Liverpool's US owners plan stadium sign that will put Manchester United's in the shade

Anfield before kick-off (GETTY IMAGES)

Liverpool’s American owners are considering creating an iconic exterior sign on the club’s new Main Stand, marking out Anfield as home to “The Liverpool Football Club”, The Independent understands.

It would be the Anfield side’s equivalent to their old rivals’ own legendary name in lights – the bright “Manchester United” at the front of Old Trafford, which is one of that club’s most famous vistas. But using the article “The” before Liverpool is an interesting part of the consideration for Fenway Sports Group.

The official name of the club – whose new Main Stand will take Anfield’s capacity to 54,000 and may increase annual match-day revenues by £25m – is “The Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Limited”. So “The Liverpool Football Club” would fit with that, but it would also be a more distinguished way of defining the custodians of the stadium.

What Everton fans would have to say is another matter, as they would challenge any notion that the team across Stanley Park is “The” club in Liverpool. Liverpool, for that matter, could say that Everton’s claim to be “The People’s Club” gives the red half of the city the right to call themselves exactly what they want.

There is no suggestion that Liverpool’s owners, whose consultations with supporters and the local community over Anfield’s redevelopment have been exhaustive, might be seeking a broader type of rebranding. But the iconic red lettering, on Anfield’s elevated land, could become a landmark visible from distances across the city.